1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the tobacco art, and more particularly, to a wetted impact barrier which is separate and in no way attached or bound to cigarette filter types until the wetted impact barrier is physically applied to create a wetted impact barrier to the top end surface of cigarette filter mouthpiece where the smoke is drawn through the mouth. Also included is a kit and method of application of said kit to a cigarette in order to reduce the tar and nicotine inhaled by the cigarette smoker. The kit comprising a dispenser with instructions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been attempts to design tar and nicotine reducing elements for tobacco smoke described in the prior art and several of these elements contain means for moistening or humidifying a porous filter. Typically, a frangible module containing water or an aqueous solution is embedded in the filter and the module is compressed to release the liquid before the filter is used. The moistened filter material in the element then exhibits an improved ability to remove the primary tars, nicotine, and certain other volatiles from the smoke.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,246, to Eric E. Walker, a tobacco smoke filter element comprised of a resilient, water impervious elongated tubular casing having a porous plug of filtering material disposed in each end of said casing; opposed, mutually spaced, disc-like walls disposed within said casing between said plugs, one wall within said casing between said plugs and one wall abutting the inner surface of each plug, said walls defining a chamber within the central portion of said casing and having at least one port in each wall. The device further including at least one liquid containing module disposed within said chamber and extending between said walls, wherein said walls have at least one passage for allowing smoke through said filter element and means carried by said element and cooperating between said module and at least one port in each of said walls for directing liquid from said module through the ports into said plugs responsive to compression of the external walls of said chamber so that said plugs may act selectively as a dry filter, or when said casing is compressed, as a filter moistened by said liquid.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,049 to Leake et al., one or more of said modules are surrounded by a compressed filter material in the element. When the module is compressed the liquid saturates the filter material causing it to expand into the space occupied by the module It is made as part of the cigarette, confined to the filter.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,226 to Horsewell et al. a liquid- containing capsule is disposed between an absorbent plug, adjacent the tobacco, and a nonabsorbent plug such that when the capsule is compressed the liquid is released into the absorbent plug. U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,665 to Lundegard also describes a frangible, liquid containing module disposed between two plugs. Compression of this module releases the liquid into both plugs for enhanced filtering.
In addition, many different liquids have been encapsulated within the filter mechanism to moisten the filters. Examples thereof are water, glycerin, and aqueous solutions or emulsions containing aromatic flavoring agents. These liquids act, in the filter, primarily to cool the smoke and to facilitate condensation of volatile components therein on the filter substrate.
The above mentioned filters describe smoke filters containing collapsible or frangible capsules filled with water or other liquids. Filter elements containing liquid pose a problem of retaining the liquid during storage, and those containing capsules or other containers of a liquid often present within the filter structure cause a problem when the liquid is released as the liquid holds the filter element in a collapsed state after pressure on filter has been released.
The aforementioned prior filters lack the desired versatility necessary for widespread acceptance.
In the above mentioned products, the liquid products were incorporated inside the filter or made as an attachment to the filter.
AquaFilter, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,003,387, 4,046,153 and 3,797,644, are directed to a disposable cigarette holder made of plastic, which has a wet cotton filter on the inside. The wetness is glycerin and water. The holder is attached to the cigarette which draws smoke into and over the wet cotton filter, held together by plastic casing, into the mouth, which caused the smoke to condensate tar and nicotine (total particular matter) on to the fiber wet filter. In this product, it is an attachment. Most smokers object to having a foreign object, such as plastic in their mouth.
As a practical matter, the process of manufacturing and packaging cigarettes and the necessity for storing cigarettes of varying periods of time, have proven to be affected because of damage to filter, drying out, impact or disfiguring of the filter with moisture before being smoked.
Another example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,632 to Henry Burbig, relates to a cigarette moistener device. In this device the interior of the filter tip of a cigarette is moistened. The device is topped by a receptacle and is provided with a hollow needle extending axially thereof, wherein the needle has a number of openings in the side thereof and the hollow needle extends into the moistener container. Where the moistener container is a squeeze bottle with resilient side, the insertion of the filter into the receptacle and squeezing the sides of the moistener container will result in impregnating the inner part of the filter with moisture The utilization of a hollow needle of greatly restricted diameter will meter the amount of moisture thus expressed on a single squeeze, to impregnate the interior of the cigarette filter with water.